Small business owners, handymen, contractors, landscapers, farmers and others often need equipment for lifting, hauling and transporting heavy objects. Fork lifts and other load bearing apparatus designed for this purpose are expensive. Devices which attach to vehicles to form a fork lift or other load bearing apparatus are generally complicated in structure and limited in usefulness.
All-terrain vehicles are becoming increasingly popular and most are constructed for carrying one or two persons, but little provision has been included to enable an all-terrain vehicle to tow, lift, carry bulky loads, or operate digging equipment.
In addition, those vehicles (other than full size passenger vehicles) which may be operated under off-road conditions usually are not provided with adequate supporting structure for attaching conventional towing or load carrying structures thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,771 to Montz teaches an ATV with a winch operated hoist connected to the back of the ATV. Montz uses a stabilizing foot attached to a stabilizing bar which can be raised and lowered to engage or disengage the stabilizing foot with the ground. Montz does not teach or suggest a forklift, nor does Montz teach or suggest the support apparatus that can be used while the ATV is in motion and without pausing to manually adjust the stabilizing apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,236 to Thompson teaches a forklift operated by a winch and attachable to the front end of a vehicle, such as a jeep. Thompson teaches a sturdy, heavy support structure attachable to the front end of a jeep. Due to the relatively light weight of an ATV, the structure of Thompson would not be practical for use in conjunction with an ATV, as the weight of the forklift, with or without a load, would unbalance an ATV.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,210 to Lang teaches a hauling accessory for an ATV. The accessory is meant for hauling light weight cargos.
The prior art teaches numerous other forklift and forklift like assemblies for attachment to vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,690 to Goode, U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,179 to Gilbert and U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,741 to McDaniel, which are for use in association with a flat bed truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,008 to McCleary teaches a load bearing rack for attachment to the rear of an all terrain vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,558 to Rathman teaches a herbicide applying apparatus for use in association with the front end of an ATV. Rathman's design would only appear to be operable with a three wheel ATV.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,130 to Racicot teaches a snowplow blade for attachment to an ATV.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,607 to Neill, Jr. et al. teaches a winch apparatus for attachment to the rear of a vehicle. The invention of Neill, Jr. et al. would not work with an ATV.
What is needed is a device for attaching to a vehicle to form a fork lift and other load bearing apparatus which is versatile and simple in construction.